As The Leaves Turn
by BlakeENovak
Summary: Dave throws a "Salute to Summer" party and forces Hotch to come to terms with his feelings for Emily. But after giving up hope of ever being with him, will they ever have a chance to be happy together? (Give it a chance!) H/P
1. Chapter 1

***Summary:** Dave throws a "Salute to Summer" party and forces Hotch to come to terms with his feelings for Emily.

***Disclaimer: **

_The follow material is used for entertainment purposes only; rnovak and associations do not own any of the recognized characters or elements. All rights are reserved to the original creator(s) and network(s)._

**A/N:** hey lovies! This is my first stab at a CM fanfic and you should know I prefer to love in a world where Emily never left and her and Hotch end up together. Please be kind and leave a review...

Exhausted and disheveled, Aaron Hotchner and the rest of the BAU agents groggily deplaned from the jet as they made their way towards the parking lot, all but dragging their go bags along with them. Emily was the first to dare break the silence, "Well that was sure one heck of a way to end a long summer to never ending cases. Nine days, two states and zero sleep!" she said as she struggled to keep her long, dark hair from blowing in the wind.

Five sleepy nods agreed with her as they neared their vehicles, all anxiously wanting to get home. Bringing up the rear David Rossi smiled, he seemed to be the least exhausted out of all of them. It was probably because he was the most experienced profiler on the team and had worked long enough to almost become accustomed to this exhaustion. "Emily's right! That was a pathetic excuse of a last hurrah before the warm weather ends. I think we all deserve at least one night free of serial killers and paper work! How about you all come over to my place on Sunday for a pool day and barbecue! We can call it a "Salute to Summer" party- BAU style of course" he said rather pleased with his idea.

Hotch was the first to his car. Sighing as he beeped open the doors to his silver SUV, he thought about Rossi's proposition. It wasn't that he didn't want to go, of course he thought a day off with the team would be nice- and Jack always loved spending time with his pseudo aunts and uncles. But after three weekends away from home, he had promised his girlfriend Beth that he would make it up to her. Actually she had made him promise to do something extra special, just the two of them as soon as he came home. Watching the rest of the team eagerly agree as they clamoured around their cars, he sighed again. Beth had really been upset with him for the last little while, and she hadn't even given him a moment to really miss her; she called and texted all day long. A familiar voice took him from his own thoughts.

"Hotch? You and Jack are going to be there right?" Derek Morgan questioned, knowing that Beth had been hounding his unit chief the entire time they had been away and not liking how over bearing and expecting she was of Hotch.

Looking from face to face, Hotch stopped when he landed on Emily's and was surprised to see her wearing a soft expression. Although he wasn't sure why, there'd been tension between them for the last few weeks and he found himself wondering if she was avoiding him. He paused when he met her eyes, he had never noticed how deep her chestnut coloured eyes were. When he noticed her eyebrows raise slightly in question, he quickly nodded his head. "Of course, I can't wait to tell Jack. Have a good night guys" he said as he climbed into his car waving as he pulled out of the almost empty Quantico parking lot. He was just about to turn on the radio when his cell phone starting to ring; the team was on stand by for the next week so he knew it could only be Beth calling. She would not be happy that he didn't exactly have a romantic date planned for this weekend but she would still enjoy a nice, relaxing day by the pool. He smiled a little and thought to himself that it didn't matter where they were, as long as they were together, right? All thoughts of Beth cleared from his mind as he pulled into his driveway and his four year old son came running out the door, his arms stretched out wide. He quickly looked up to make sure Jack's aunt Jessica knew where he was before lifting this little boy up in the air as he squealed in joy!

"Hi Daddy! I missed you! Did you catch the bad guys? Guess what? Aunt Jessica and I made cookies, you have to try them, I put the sprinkles on myself!" he rambled as his dad carried him instead, stopping briefly to thank his aunt before she hurried off to her PTA meeting.

They settled in on the couch and Hotch took a bite of his son's cookies while Jack continued to tell him about his week at school. After eating dinner, watching a movie and giving Jack his bath, both Hotchner boys were so exhausted they fell asleep almost as soon as their head it their pillows.

Across town, Emily Prentiss wasn't having as much luck with sleep as she would have liked. After a hot shower and tea, she has climbed into bed, expecting the exhaustion in her body to take over. However her mind wasn't being as corroborative. Emily rolled over, allowing her thoughts to take over.

_Flashback:_

_"JJ can you please just drop it. I really don't want to talk about this anymore. I just want to go home" she said as she splashed some water on her face before staring at herself in the bathroom mirror. She looked like a mess, it was no wonder her best friend was concerned._

_"Em, it's me. I know something wrong and I'm pretty sure I know what it is" JJ replied, offering Emily a paper towel to dry her face._

_Emily did her best to plaster on a smile, "Thanks. But really I'm just exhausted. I mean, we all are. We've been working for over a week straight" she reasoned._

_"Yeah we're all tired Emily, but what happened out there... It didn't affect any of us the way it affected you" she said softly as she put a comforting hand on her best friend's shoulder._

_"JJ-" Emily started_

_JJ looked her in the eye and started, "Don't "JJ" me Em... He went in to blitz the unsub unarmed. A gunshot went off. We all had the same thought running through our head but the look in your eyes Em... It's the same way I would have looked if it were Will". She paused looking over at Emily, who looked unable to speak as she fought back tears. "You can't keep doing this to yourself Emily. You need to tell Hotch you're in love with him"'._

_Finally Emily spoke, wiping her face before anymore tears slipped out. " that's ridiculous JJ, I'm not in love with him. Besides he has a girlfriend, he's on the phone with her every chance he gets. Even if I was in love with him- which I'm NOT I just want him to be happy. That's what friends do right?" She said unconvincingly before pushing past her friend and slipping out of the bathroom back out to precinct._

_End of Flashback._

Emily hugged a pillow even tighter. As she fought back tears she whispered into the night "You're right JJ... I'm in love with Aaron Hotchner... How could I possibly not be". Blinking away the warm moisture in her eyes, Emily willed herself to go to sleep.

**A/N:** To Be Continued? Please, please, please drop me a line if you can. I'd love to hear what you think. Cheers


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you so much for the initial reviews! I'm very excited about this story and hope you are too! Your reviews literally make me want to keep writing, so as always please send me a line or two!

Hotch's eyes fluttered open as he felt Jack plop down on his bed. He squinted at the alarm clock on his bedside table that flashed 7:30am.

"Hey buddy! What are you doing up already?! You always like to sleep in on Saturday!" he asked Jack, still half asleep.

"Because daddy! You're home today which means I can stay with you instead of going to Aunt Jessica's" Jack answered excitedly as he bounced up and down on his knees.

"Ahh" Hotch said as he tried to sit up, trying to ignore the twinge of guilt in his stomach for not being home more often. "I guess that means we should get our day started! How bout we go downstairs and make some blueberry pancakes?" he propositioned before pulling his son down and tickling him.

Ten minutes later they were downstairs when Hotch saw his flashing phone. Sighing, he decided he couldn't ignore it forever and finally gave in to checking his missed calls and messages. He opened his missed calls, not too surprised to see that his girlfriend had been persistently trying to get a hold of him.

Beth Clemens

Beth Clemens

Beth Clemens

Beth Clemens

Emily Prentiss

Beth Clemens

Beth Clemens

Beth Clemens

He paused and scrolled back up, surprised to see that someone other than Beth had called him, let alone that it was Emily Prentiss. Peeking over his shoulder quickly to make sure Jack was still stirring the pancake mix, he picked up is phone and quickly dialed a number.

A few blocks away, Emily was struggling to make a broken coffee pot work, feeling desperate for caffeine after a night of little sleep when her phone began ringing. Startled, she managed to spill a mix of water and coffee beans all over herself as she grumbled and reached for the phone.

Not bothering to check her caller ID she put the phone to her ear, attempting to clean herself with her free hand. "Prentiss." she answered, admittedly sounding very frustrated.

"Hi um. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

Instantly recognizing HIS voice, Emily leaned against her counter and put her head in her hand, suddenly wishing that this morning never happened. "Oh hi Hotch, sorry I just spilled a little coffee" she said as her cheeks flushed. "Please don't tell me we caught another case. Aren't we supposed to be on stand down?"

On the other line Hotch couldn't help but smile a little bit as he pictured a flustered Emily on the phone. 'I wonder what she's wearing' he thought to himself. Surprised at his own thoughts, he quickly shook his head, "No it's another case. I was actually just returning your call from last night. Sorry I missed it, Jack and I were so tired we fell asleep a little earlier than usual" he said sheepishly.

Emily's head perked up, she had forgotten that she called him last night and staring out into her front hallway she suddenly remembered why. "Oh right! I'm um, guessing you haven't tried to unpack your go-bag yet" she said as she chewed her bottom lip lightly.

Hotch's eyebrows burrowed in confusion as he shifted his gaze to his own doorway where he had dropped his go-bag last night. "No, I haven't. Why?"

Breathing a sigh of relief she switched the phone to her left ear. "Well, um it seems that one of us grabbed the other's bag when we were hurrying off the jet yesterday. So I have yours and I'm guessing you have mine" she answered, crossing her fingers in hope that he would simply take her word on it and not go through her bag. The last thigh she wanted was for the man she was hopelessly in love with to see her dull work clothes that had yet to be washed from their last case.

"Oh" Hotch answered, "I guess that's what we get for trying to beat Rossi off of the jet" he said light heartily.

Emily caught herself smile, she was scarcely privileged to Hotch's rare jokes. She had to bite down on her lip to stop herself from telling him right there and then that she was head of heals in love with him. She snapped back to attention when she heard his voice on the other end.

"Prentiss? Are you still there?"

"Oh yeah, sorry I was just uh... Never mind. What did you say?"

"I just asked if you wanted me to swing by your place to exchange bags"

Emily thought about it for a second when she heard what she only assume was Jack's voice in the background. "No Hotch! You have Jack this weekend. How about I come by, that way it doesn't interrupt your plans with him!" She suggested.

Hotch's heart melted a little bit, she was always looking out for him and Jack. "Uh sure Prentiss, that would be great. Thank you" he said.

"Don't mention it. I'll be there in an hour?" she said, glancing at the clock on the stove.

"See you then" he said before hanging up. He paused before going back into the kitchen and unconsciously asked him why he had called back his subordinate before his so called girlfriend. Pushing the thought the back of his mind he made his way back to Jack, who was busy making a mess of the kitchen.

**A/N:** I know this was a short one, but if my muse continues there will be plenty more to come. Next up… will Hotch be able to keep ignoring his girlfriend? Will he realize his true feelings? You'll have to review to find out ;) Cheers!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** alright! Here's chapter 3! Please review and let me know what you think so far. I'm really enjoying writing this story.

Emily made her way up the stairs and towards her shower, wanting to rid herself of the smell of coffee and jet lag before seeing the man she was hopelessly in love with. She let out a sigh while shedding her white tank top and pyjama bottoms and tossing them carelessly to the side before dashing across the hall to her bathroom. Securely closing and locking the door behind her, only then did she dare to trace her fingers along the lace waist of her panties pulling them off and unclasping her soft, cotton bra. Emily paused to stare at her reflection in the mirror, rather pleased with what she saw. Sure, she wasn't twenty-two anymore but she thought she looked pretty good for her age. Her soft, pale, ivory skin had few creases and her muscles looked toned and flat as a result of all of her morning workouts with Morgan.

As a cool breeze blew through her cracked window and across her sensitive skin, Emily gave herself a tight hug suddenly feeling self-conscious. It had been a very long time since she had been touched by anyone and warm tear slipped down her cheek knowing that the only man she really wanted to touch her never would. With that, Emily jumped into a scorching hot shower and allowed the soothing water to fall down her body as she lathered herself down. She allowed her eyes to close as she tried to imagine what it would be like to have Aaron Hotchner right there in her shower with her. Her eyes fluttered lightly against her skin at the thought of his hands running slowly over her curves as he held her flush against his own body. She imagined being able to wrap her arms around him while he bent down slowly meeting her lips with his own under the warm water. Her head snapped to attention when she realized that her fantasies would only ever be just that, and she quickly cooled the water right down before jumping out and wrapping a towel tight around her body.

As Emily sat on the edge of her bed trying to figure out what to wear, she decided that it was silly to care so much, when he probably wouldn't even notice if she showed up to his house dressed to the nines. Well, he would notice, but not in the way that she wanted him to. _'Why would he? When he had a beautiful girlfriend to stare at all day'_ she bitterly thought to herself. Besides, she would probably only see him for a minute before he went on with his day. Satisfied with her favourite emerald green tank top and a pair of slightly distressed denim shorts, she put on a little makeup before grabbing her purse and Hotch's bag and heading for the door.

Sitting down at the kitchen table with his son, Hotch made easy conversation with Jack covering everything from school projects to the latest Pixar movie that Jack was dying to see. Halfway through their plate of pancakes, Jack's sandy blonde head perked up "So what are we going to do today Daddy?" he asked before diving right back into his plate covered in maple syrup.

"Well Jack we can do whatever you want to do today. Just as soon as we clean up our dishes and wait for one of my work friends to drop by" Hotch answered with a smile.

"Why daddy? You don't have to work today do you? Is Uncle Dave coming to pick you up?" Jack asked anxiously, already having plenty of ideas for the day ahead.

"No, no, Jack don't worry. I'm all yours today. Actually Miss Emily is the one coming by" Hotch said trying to ignore the butterflies that emerged without warning in his stomach.

"EMMY IS COMING OVER?! Yay! I really like she's around" Jack answered unable to contain his excitement. He loved getting to see his favourite adult-other than his dad of course. "Is she spending the day with us too?" he asked hopefully.

Hotch was surprised by his son's reaction to the mention of his brunette college and suddenly found himself at a loss of words. "Um, no buddy she's just coming to exchange bags with me because I took hers by accident yesterday" Hotch tried to explain as steadily as he could.

Jack's face fell, "Oh. But... Do you think maybe she could stay?" he asked innocently.

Hotch was about to answer when he was suddenly unable to think of a reason why she couldn't spend the day with them. Finally he settled on, "She's probably busy today Jack" he answered, trying not to focus on his son's clear disappointment. Luckily he was save by the bell, quite literally when he heard the sharp chime coming from the front door. Before he could even get up, Jack was already out of his seat and running towards the door.

Getting up on his handy step-stool, Jack peeked through the peep hole, gasping with joy when he saw who was on the other side. "Daddy! Daddy! It's Emmy! I'm gonna open it okay?" he yelled to his dad who was still making his way from the kitchen.

"Okay, okay, Jack, calm down" he said as his butterflies made a reappearance in his stomach. _'Calm down Aaron'_ he told himself, _'It's just Prentiss, you see her every day'_. He had just about calmed himself down when he stopped dead in his tracks staring at the sight before him. Jack had pounced on Emily the second she stepped inside and had himself wrapped tightly in her safe arms as they fell to the floor giggling.

"Hi Emmy! I missed you!" the little boy said enthusiastically, while Emily put him down so that she could stand up.

"I missed you too Jack. You're getting so big! I bet you'll be as stron gand tall as your daddy in no time!" she said before looking up to meet Hotch's gaze with a warm smile.

As she stood up and straightened herself out, Aaron stood unable to move as he stared at the woman in front of him. Green was definitely a wonderful colour on Emily and her legs went on for days underneath those shorts. He has always known that Emily was rather attractive but as she stood there in his home with his son attached to her leg, he couldn't remember ever seeing anyone as beautiful as her.

"Hi Hotch" she said shyly, "I hope I'm not interrupting. I didn't quite expect there to be so much traffic on the way down here".

Hotch struggled to regain focus, confused by the sudden emotion. "Er, um, no not at all. Thank you for coming all this way" he finally managed to get out.

Jack looked up at Emily with his big eyes, "I was just asking daddy if you could spend the day with us Emmy!" he said in his little voice.

Emily's cheeks grew red as she imagined her boss having to explain to his son that he didn't want to have to spend anymore time with his subordinate than he needed to. Especially if that subordinate was her. Looking down at the sweet little boy, she plastered on a smile before saying, "Today is your day for you your dad!". Jack's face fell and she looked back up to Hotch for help.

Once again Hotch found himself racking his brain to think of a reason why he shouldn't just invite Emily to the park with them. "Uh, buddy I forgot to tell you... You'll get to see Miss Emily tomorrow. We've been invited to Uncle Dave's for to swim" Hotch said, feeling pleased with the way he handled that as Jack's face lit right back up.

Emily gave an appreciative nod. Looking down at the black bag she was holding, she had almost forgotten why she had come in the first place. Holding it up, Emily gave a slight smile and began to walk it over. "Sorry about the mix up Hotch I guess we were all just- WOAH" Emily exclaimed as she felt herself trip over something, falling into the man in front of her. Bracing herself without thinking, Emily placed her hands flat on Hotch's muscular chest as she tried to rebalance herself.

Hotch's hands instinctively fell around Emily's hips to keep her from falling. Immediately feeling an unfamiliar warmth around her, she lightly bit her bottom lip when she realized what, or rather who the warmth was coming from. Even now that she was not in danger of falling over she couldn't bring herself to remove her hands, just as Hotch's had also remained in place. Emily slowly lifted her head and she instantly melted in the dark chocolate pools of Aaron's eyes. For a split second Emily thought the unthinkable was going to happen as she raised her head a little bit more.

"KNOCK KNOCK" a sing song voice said, as the front door that no one had remembered to close creaked open.

Emily felt as though someone had just popped the bubble she imagined had surrounded herself and Hotch just moments ago. Slightly jumping away from him she picked up her own go bag that he had dropped by his side.

Shocked and confused with the scene that was unfolding in his front hallway Aaron simply uttered, "Beth".

**A/N**: sooooooooo... thoughts, questions, comments, more?** Please** send me a line or two I'd really appreciate it.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** hey folks, okay so I'm working really hard on this story and trying to get chapters out daily if not every other day! So please PLEASE drop me a line. I would really love to hear your thoughts! The more I get the more motivated I get to write.

Aaron let his hands fall to his side after Emily awkwardly pulled away, steadying herself. He suddenly missed the warmth of her hands on top of his chest. Wide eyed and shocked, he definitely wasn't expecting to see his girlfriend standing in his front hall, let alone steps away from his... well he didn't really know what Emily was to him right now. Something about holding her close to him just felt so natural, so right. He wasn't sure what had just happened or almost happened between them and unfortunately he didn't have time to contemplate his growing confusion.

Beth stepped inside and closed the door behind her, as if to say that she didn't have any intention of leaving anytime soon.

"What are you doing here?" Aaron asked, doing his best not to sound annoyed. After all she was still technically his girlfriend.

"I thought I'd surprise my boyfriend! After a long trip I thought you could use a treat" she said with a wink as she placed her oversized sunglasses on top of her head. It was then that Aaron noticed that she was wearing a black halter dress that dipped way too low in the front. He felt slightly embarrassed that she was dressed that way in front of his young son.

"After all I haven't seen you or little Jack in several days!" she exclaimed while messing up Jack's sandy blonde hair.

Jack's hands automatically flew to his head smoothing his hair back down before looking up, "I'm not little anymore! Emmy says that I'm almost as big as daddy!" he said proudly.

Trying to ignore the ridiculousness of that statement, Beth forced herself to finally acknowledge the presence of the woman standing next to her boyfriend. "Oh hi. I almost didn't see you there Emma" she said purposely.

Emily resisted the urge to roll her eyes before extending her hand. "It's Emily. And it's nice to see you again Beth" she said with her most convincing smile.

"Yes, I'm sure it is" she answered obnoxiously while shaking the other woman's hand limply. Holding up a paper bag in her hand she returned her attention to Hotch. "I didn't know we were having company I guess it's a good thing I brought peanut butter cookies! They're my favourite!". Crouching down to acknowledge Jack she pulled him into an awkward one armed hug, "And if you're lucky I might just share them with you" she added with a wink.

Jack immediately stepped backwards, wriggling out of the hold that Beth had him in. "I'm allergic to peanuts!" the little boy exclaimed before running over to hide behind Emily's legs.

Slightly put off, Beth stood up. "What a shame. I guess these will just have to be for your daddy and me" she said with a shrug.

Subconsciously taking a step towards Emily and Jack, Hotch finally found his voice. "Actually Beth, I'm sorry but I can't have peanuts in the house. I'm sure you can understand" he said.

Pursing her lips Beth struggled to find a smile. "Of course" she said simply putting the paper bag back in her purse.

From behind Emily's leg Jack popped out. "Emmy, maybe I should come with you" the little boy said hopefully.

"Oh Jack, I would love to spend more time with you. But remember how we talked about today being your special day with your dad" she said softly. As Emily followed Jack's nervous gaze towards Beth she added in a hushed whisper, "Besides those cookies didn't even come out of the bag, it's alright. Your daddy would never let anything happen to you".

Irritated that Emily was still here Beth snaked her arm possessively around Aaron's waist. "Yeah Jack- we'll do something special just the three of us" she said putting extra emphasis on the word 'three'.

After giving Jack another tight hug, Emily turned to Hotch. "Um, okay well I should get going. Thanks Hotch. Bye guys" she said as she stepped towards the door, trying as best she could to fight the growing jealousy of the woman that got to spend the rest of the day with her two favourite people.

"Bye Emmy! Daddy and I will see you tomorrow!" Jack said enthusiastically waving.

Hotch's eyes shut tight, he knew that Beth expected a special date tomorrow and Jack had just not-so-subtlety let her know that that in fact was not happening. As he closed the door behind Emily he turned around to find a very angry girlfriend glaring back at him.

"What's going on tomorrow Aaron?" she snapped, placing her hands on her hips.

"Dave is throwing an end of summer party for the team and their families. Jack's really excited about it. You're more than welcome to join us" he said calmly.

In that moment, Beth wanted nothing more than to scream at her insensitive boyfriend. She had thought was getting wined and dined tomorrow; it had been several weeks since she last had any real alone time with Aaron and she had needs. Beth struggled to find her composure knowing that her relationship with already on the rocks. The last thing she wanted to do was drive Aaron right into the arms of that other woman. She needed him to love her. Plastering on a fake smile she shrugged her shoulder, "Sounds fun" she said as she showed herself to the kitchen.

Aaron followed her, surprised she hadn't thrown as fit as he had anticipated. Jack had gone up to his room to play but he knew that his son was waiting for them to start their day together as he had promised. Awkwardly he scratched his head, trying to think of a way to tell Beth that while she was invited to the party tomorrow, today was his time with Jack. "Er, um Beth I don't really know how to say this but…. I promised Jack that we would spend the day together".

Rummaging through the fridge looking for a yogurt Beth didn't even bother looking up. "Yeah I heard. I'm up for anything. Just as long as its air conditioned, I'm so over this heat".

"Oh well actually Beth we were sort of planning on having a guys day, just me and him. We need some quality time together" he said, beginning to get a little frustrated.

Slamming the fridge door shut Beth snapped to face Aaron. "You have GOT to be kidding me Aaron".

**A/N:** okay guys you know the drill... I'm so appreciative of these reviews. Are you losing interest? Please please please tell me what you think.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** alright guys I really want to apologize for the delay in update. I know I promised that I'd update regularly but unfortunately I had personal circumstances that prevented me to do so. I hope you aren't losing interest I swear this is going to be a good story! Please please take a couple seconds to review I appreciate it more than you know.

Twenty minutes after leaving the Hotchner boys, Emily pulled into JJ's driveway not knowing where else to go. She was feeling dejected having just seen and left the man that she loved standing in the arms of another woman and she didn't really feel like going back to her apartment, given that she would be all alone. If she was being honest with herself, she had been secretly hoping that Hotch would take Jack up on his idea and invite her to join them for the day. But alas any delusions she had of that happening had died the minute his girlfriend had walked through the door. Emily sat in her car for a few minutes and allowed a few tears to fall from her eyes as she thought about how unrequited her deep love for her boss was.

Minutes later JJ heard her front doorbell ring; and expecting it to be the pizza that Will had ordered, she ran for the door and without even looking through the peephole swung it wide open, money in hand. Needless to say she was very surprised when she saw her puffy-eyed best friend standing at her doorstep with one arm vulnerably reading against the other. It only took JJ a second to realize that Emily had been crying and she quickly ushered her friend inside.

Holding a Sippy cup in his hand, Will emerged from the kitchen. "Babe was that the pizza-oh hi Emily I didn't know you were coming over" he said kindly, oblivious to her current emotional state. "We just ordered a pizza, you're more than welcome to join us if you'd like" he added with a smile.

"Thanks Will. It's nice to see you " Emily replied trying to muster up her best smile.

JJ put a comforting hand on Emily's back before turning to her husband." Um honey, do you think you could take Henry upstairs to watch a movie? I think we're just going to put on some tea and chat while we wait for the pizza," she said with a telling glance. Seeing Will's puzzled look, she shook her head lightly; she loved her husband but he could be so damn oblivious to things sometimes. Walking over to him, she kissed him on the cheek before giving him a gentle nudge toward the stairs.

Once they were alone, JJ sat Emily down on the couch and handed her a box of tissues. JJ put her hand on Emily's tucked knee, "Em, what happened?" she asked gently. Even though she already had an inkling as to what was making her best friend cry, she still felt it necessary to confirm her suspicions.

Emily let out a long sigh before relaying her morning to her friend. JJ listened quietly as Emily shared everything from the bag mix up to Beth's untimely arrival. Sniffling a little, Emily fell back against the couch, "... And I just don't know what to do Jayje. It's getting harder and harder to be around him without wanting to just melt into his arms. You were right from the beginning, I'm hopelessly in with Aaron Hotchner" Emily said admittedly.

"Oh Emily" JJ said soothingly, "I wish I wasn't. I can't even imagine how hard it must be for you. Have you ever thought about maybe just telling him how you feel? Em, you should see the way he looks at you. I'd be willing to bet that feels the same way".

"Then why is he with Beth" she stated more as a point than a question as she sat up. "He's happy with her JJ and you know I can't tell him. He's only ever seen me as 'Prentiss' and I could never ask him to risk his career for me" she added as she looked up to see JJ's sad smile.

"But Em... This is killing you" JJ said stating the obvious.

Emily let a single tear roll down her cheek. "It's just the way it is," she said sadly.

JJ shook her head, there was no way she was going to let her friend hurt anymore if Aaron was too blind to see what was right in front of him then maybe he didn't deserve her. Standing up from the couch she walked over to where her purse was sitting and starting digging through it looking for her phone.

"What are you doing? " Emily asked from the couch.

"Looking for my phone," she answered simply. "If Aaron's not going to man up and see how perfect you are for each other then there's no way I'm going to just let my best friend mope about".

Genuinely confused, Emily asked, "JJ what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about helping you move on. What you're doing to yourself isn't healthy," she said finally finding her phone. "Do you remember Will's friend Mark? You met him a couple weeks ago when you were over for dinner..."

"Ohhh no. Thanks JJ but I really don't want to be set up. I don't need to date anyone I'll be fine" she tried to protest.

"Oh come on Emily! It's Mark! He's been asking about you ever since that night. He's a doctor, he's super sweet and not to mention he's really cute. I mean if u wasn't happily married I might... " She trailed off as her cheeks began to flush. "Look Em, I love you and I just want you to be happy. I can't stand to see you so hurt. I know you love him but maybe... Maybe it's time to try and find love elsewhere" she said biting down on her lip.

Emily was about to flat out refuse when she thought about what her friend was saying. Aaron was with Beth and that was a fact. Maybe it s time to finally accept that her dreams would always just be only that. Letting out a sigh as she stood up from the couch she nodded her head. "Okay. Thanks JJ" she said sincerely.

JJ smiled, that was all she needed to hear. Quickly dialing a number she put the phone to her ear, "Oh hey Mark it's Jen!" ... "We're good yes thanks for asking. What have you been up to?"... "Mhm that's great! Listen so remember my friend Emily" ... "Yes the one you've been begging me to set you up with" she said playfully rolling her eyes at Emily before contains her conversation. "Well I've finally gotten her to agree to a night out. How about you pick her up tonight at 7?"..." Yeah I know, you owe me! I'll text you her address. Bye Mark" she said before hanging up her phone and turning back to Emily.

Emily forced a smile out, she knew this was a good thing and she was grateful to have a friend like JJ to look after her. "Thank you JJ. For everything" she said pulling her blonde friend into a hug.

"Don't mention it Emily. Now go! You need to go plan your outfit for your hot date" she said with a wink before showing her out. As she watched Emily walk to her car she shouted out at her, "I'll see you tomorrow at Dave's. If everything goes well tonight maybe you could bring Mark!" she shouted and closed her door without giving Emily a chance to protest.

Back inside Will came down the stairs holding a sleeping Henry in his arms. "Hey, I heard the door open was that the pizza?" he asked again.

JJ chuckled, it was obvious her man was very hungry. "No honey just Emily leaving. But I'll call and check on that pizza for you" she said as she walked back into the kitchen.

Will put Henry down on the couch before joining his wife in the kitchen. "So what did you and Emily talk about?" he asked innocently while plopping a light kiss on JJ's cheek.

"Oh not much" JJ answered, shrugging her shoulders "she has a big date tonight though" she offered.

Will grabbed an apple and bit into it eagerly. "Oh that's great. So did Aaron finally get up the courage to ask her out?" he asked casually. In front of him, JJ's jaw dropped. The corners of his mouth then turned up, "What? I know more than you ladies give me credit for. Besides isn't it obvious that he's in love with her?" he said with a wink before walking back to check on their sleeping son.

JJ just stood there in awe, _'Maybe Will's not so oblivious after all… But it doesn't matter anyways. Emily is going to have a great time with Mark'_ she thought to herself before going to join her family.

**A/N:** so I hope this chapter made up for my absence the past week. Again, I'm sorry-going through a personally trying time right now and I'm relying on the little things (like reviews **coughcough**) to keep me going so please drop me a line if you have a second. Hope you loved it!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** hey guys so I have the next couple of chapters already written but if you're not reviewin', I'm not postin' ;) hope you love it!

Aaron woke up the next morning and turned to his side, reaching to turn on the lamp on his bedside table. He was still utterly exhausted from the day before, it definitely hadn't been the kind of Saturday day that he was expecting. As he closed his eyes he thought back on the events that yesterday had brought.

*FLASHBACK*

_"Oh, well actually Beth we were sort of planning on having a guys day, just me and him. We need some quality time together" he said, beginning to get a little frustrated._

_Slamming the fridge door shut Beth snapped to face Aaron. "You have GOT to be kidding me Aaron"_

_Aaron stood there shaking his head. He didn't fully understand why she was so upset. Surley she could appreciate that as single dad he needed and wanted to spend quality time with his son whenever he could. Well and if he was being perfectly honest with himself he wasn't sure that he was all that comfortable with Beth spending that amount of time with his son. "Well I'm not kidding Beth. You know it's important for me to spend time with my son. Besides you're spending the day with us at the barbecue tomorrow. I don't see what the problem is" he said flatly. _

_Beth crossed her arms and glared at her boyfriend. "The problem is that I'm supposed to be your girlfriend and you haven't taken me out in almost two weeks" she whined. "You said we would spend time together the moment you got home and you didn't so much as call me to let me know the case was over. Instead I have to drop by and see that other woman here with you!" _

_Aaron was getting frustrated with her, he really didn't have time to stand here having this conversation. He didn't like how she was trying to drag Emily into this, and he sure as hell didn't like that she had referred to her as "the other woman". He was about to interject but she didn't even give him that chance. _

_"All I'm asking for is a date. Just you and me. If you're not taking me out tonight than at least bail on the stupid barbecue and come out with me tomorrow instead" she said insistently before continuing. "There's this really great winery not too far from here. I thinking we could spend the day there and then check into this beautiful hotel and take full advantage on the hot tub. I promise I'll be able to satisfy you more than a barbecue will" she said seductively as she walked over to Aaron and crawled her fingers up his chest. _

_Aaron had the resist the urge to push her away. "Beth I can't cancel on the team, and even if I did, what you have in mind is not an appropriate setting for Jack" he said sternly._

_Beth looked up at him, "Well I didn't think you would be bringing him on our date" she said. _

_Aaron pushed her away, "Beth what part of 'I want to spend whatever time I have at home with my son' are you not understanding. You're more than welcome to join us tomorrow but I am not pawning him off to go drink wine with you." he replied angrily. _

_"I don't see why I have to spend so much time with him Aaron. He's not even mine! " _

_Aaron's blood was now boiling and before he could tell her to get the hell out of his house, she decided to fuel the fire a little more. _

_"Frankly I don't know what man wouldn't jump at the chance to unload his baggage and spend a night with all of this" she said running her hands down her body. "Aren't you attracted to me anymore Aaron? Is this all because of that Emma woman?!" she shouted. _

_Just like that, Aaron lost the last bit of control he had been holding onto. "Her name is Emily and if that's too complicated for you to remember why don't you try 'Agent Prentiss'. And this is only about you. YOU not accepting who I am. YOU being selfish. YOU coming into MY home and insulting MY family. Get out of my house Beth. I never want to see you again" he snapped, holding open the front door._

_"You know what Aaron, you're not even worth it. But this.." she said waving her finger between the two of them, "isn't over. You'll be crawling back faster than you know" she stated before walking out. Just as Aaron was about to slam the door shut she turned over her shoulder and shouted, "And last time I check Emily wasn't part of your family". _

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Aaron winced at the memory of his now ex-girlfriend's exit. For some reason her last words had hurt the most. Of course he knew that Prentiss wasn't part of his family and at the time he had shaken his head at the obviousness of such a statement. But now as he woke up in an empty bed, he found himself suddenly wishing otherwise. He was about to get out of bed when he heard the rumbling of tiny footsteps coming toward his door. Right on cue, Jack bolted into the room and pounced onto his dad's bed.

"Morning buddy. I was just coming to your room to wake you up. I can't believe we actually slept in today" Hotch said to his son.

"I was so tired from going to the zoo yesterday daddy. I wish Miss Emily had come with us but I'm really glad that Beth didn't have to come" Jack said honestly.

"You won't have to worry about Beth anymore Jack. But you should worry about getting ready, we're going to be late for Uncle Dave's" Hotch said as he pulled the covers off himself about to get up.

"Okay daddy! I can't wait! Emmy said she was going to be there right?" he asked hopefully.

Hotch found himself surprised at how much he was hoping Emily would too and smile down at the miniature version of himself. "That's what she said buddy" he said before Jack went scampering off to his room to go get dressed.

Hotch sat down on the edge of his bed and let out a soft sigh. He didn't know where this sudden desire to see Prentiss at come from and it was all very overwhelming for him. He had tried to call her last night when he and Jack had gotten home from the zoo, hoping to apologize to her for Beth's behavior. Unfortunately his call had gone straight to voicemail and Aaron couldn't help himself from wondering where she had been last night. Emily always answered his calls on the first ring... Given, they were on stand down for the next couple more days so she might have turned her phone off for some peace and quiet.

Letting out another sigh, he started to undress as he made his way to bathroom. At first thought that maybe she could have been out with Morgan or Garcia but then he quickly remembered that they both had dates that they had been talking about for days. He couldn't quite figure out why, but for some reason the thought of Emily being out last night with anyone that wasn't him or Jack greatly upset him. Shaking his head he decided not to worry about it. He would most likely see her in about an hour anyways. Maybe he would even be able to sort out his newfound feelings. Putting on a clean T-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts he decided to dab some cologne on as well before calling out for his son. "Jack are you almost ready it's time to go!"

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Back in her own apartment Emily found herself waking up in an awkward position. It took her a minute to realize that someone's arms were wrapped around her and another minute to realize that those arms belonged to Mark. As she began to wake she was quickly relieved to find that they were both fully clothed and lying on her couch.

She felt Mark stir and looked up to meet his gaze. "Mmm, good morning. We must've fallen asleep on your couch while we were watching that movie last night" Mark said as he stretched an arm up in the air.

Emily sat up slightly, "Yeah, um sorry for kind of sleeping on you" she said as she blushed slightly.

Mark pulled her back down into his arms, "A woman who looks like you never has to apologize for falling asleep in my arms" he said sweetly before turning to look at the clock on her wall. "Wow we definitely had a nice long sleep" he said before Emily all but jumped up from the couch. "What's wrong? Do you have hotter date waiting? he asked jokingly.

Emily nervously answered him, "Oh um, my team is having a barbecue today and it looks like I'm going to be a bit late".

Mark shifted in his seat, visibly disappointed that she did in fact already have plans.

Emily must've seen his smile drop because she quickly added, "Do you want to come with me? I'm sure JJ and Will would love to see you too".

His smile quickly returned as he rose to plant a gentle kiss on her lips. "I would love to come with you. We just have to swing by my place to I can um change" he said.

Emily took a step back, she hadn't been expecting him to kiss her. "Oh um, sure let me go get ready and then we can go" she said before she climbed up the stairs. A smile spread across Emily's face as she could feel Mark watching her backside. Part of her was still hung up on Hotch but she knew JJ was right, it was time to move on. And Mark was a really sweet, handsome guy who made her feel special, this was good for her, he was good for her she told herself. Even though she knew deep down she would probably always have feelings for Hotch, Mark was here, available and unlike Hotch, seemed to actually reciprocate her feelings. She sighed, maybe this was how it was all supposed to be…

**A/N:** *insert typical beg for reviews here*


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** I'm still so excited about this story. I hope you are too. Cheers.

Hotch slowly pulled his silver jeep into Rossi's large driveway when a little voice popped up from the back seat, "Daddy are we here? Are we here?" Jack asked anxiously.

Hotch chuckled to himself as he put the vehicle in park. "Yes Jack we're here, you can take off your seat belt now" he said as he got out of the drivers seat and went around to help Jack climb down. "Alright buddy, now don't forget that we're guests in Uncle Dave's house so we have remember our manners okay?" he said, crouching down to be eye level with his son.

Jack nodded his head quickly "I know daddy! Now can we pretty please go now I want to see Ms. Emily!" the little boy pleaded.

_'Yeah me too'_ Hotch thought to himself. "Okay let's go. Uncle Dave said to go around back since the party is outside. You lead the way," he said following the eager little boy who was running toward the gate.

As they entered Dave's backyard Hotch's eyes unwillingly scanned the crowd for Emily. "Aaron! Over here!" he heard Dave call out to him from where the older man was standing at the barbecue. Still casually looking around in search of the beautiful brunette, he made his way over to Dave. Aaron must have not been moving fast enough for his sons liking because he found himself being dragged over by son. Jack quickly let go of his hand when he saw Reid and Morgan standing by the pool and went flying over to Derek who picked the little boy up and starting tossing him in the air. Hotch smiled, he was so glad that the team cared about Jack in the way that they did.

"Hi Dave. Thanks again for doing this I think it will be good for the team. The last couple of cases have been pretty gruesome" Aaron said as Dave handed him a bottle of soda.

"It was my pleasure. I'm glad you brought Jack, it's been a while since I've seen the little guy" Dave responded while he flipped a couple of burgers on the grill. He noticed the way Aaron kept looking around and decided to nonchalantly ask, "So where's Beth?"

Aaron took a moment to register the question in his head while he tried to decide how he wanted to answer. He wasn't sure he was ready to let the team know that he and Beth had more than ended things. Part of him was a bit embarrassed that while it appeared everyone else saw that his now ex-girlfriend was certifiably crazy, he himself did not. Aaron decided if only for the sole reason that he did not want to hear the slew of _"I told you so's_" and "_You're better off's_" that he would not share the news of his failed relationship with his colleagues and friends just yet. Looking back at Dave he took a swig of his cola and answered simply, "She uh, couldn't make it".

David Rossi was no fool, he had known the minute that Aaron had started dating Beth that she was not the right person for him. He knew then and he knew now that the right person for his friend was actually right in front of his nose. So he was quite disappointed when Aaron was able to explain Beth's absence with ease. "Oh that's too bad" he said trying his best to bite his tongue. The team more than often shared their opinion of their leader's other half and today he decided that he would give him a break, especially since today was supposed to be a happy family affair.

Before either man could say anything more on the subject, they were joined by the JJ and her husband Will. While Will greeted Aaron with a friendly handshake, he noticed JJ hadn't so much as even smiled at him. _'That's odd' _he thought to himself _'JJ is always the first one to say hello at the office, aside from Emily of course... Speaking of Emily'_. Aaron gave a quick look around Dave's backyard again to see if she was standing over with Morgan and Reid by the pool or perhaps with Kevin and Garcia playing Ping-Pong. When he realized she in fact was not at the party, he turned back to face his friends. "Where's Emily?" he asked, trying to sound as casual as he could.

As soon as Aaron mentioned her best friends name JJ shook her head lightly, rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed scoff before turning on her heel and heading toward Reid who was currently playing with her son. Will quickly faced Aaron, "Uh, they're running a little late" he said with an apologetic stare before he ran off to catch up to his wife, leaving Aaron confused.

Dave was the first to say anything, "Okay two questions. One, what the hell did you do to make JJ so angry? And two, did will just say that THEY were running late?" he asked as his eyes widened at the thought of Emily with anyone else other than Aaron. It was no secret that she was head over heels in love with their supervisor. Dave looked over at Aaron who looked like he was trying to solve a complicated math question.

Aaron was about to call out after JJ when suddenly he heard his son shout as he ran across Dave's freshly cut grass. "Miss Emily! Miss Emily!" Jack yelled excitedly moving his feet as fast as he could.

Aaron's head immediately snapped up and his eyes inadvertently followed the path his son was running on. As Jack came to an astounding halt, Aaron suddenly felt as if someone had punched him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.

**A/N:** I know this is a short one but I think I've figure out where I'm going to take this story from here so please drop me a line if you want to hear more! Cheers.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**: thanks for all the reviews, please keep them coming! Nothing makes me happier than reading them!

Aaron watched as Emily bent down and wrapped her arms tightly around his son. Jack let out a high pitch squeal when Emily gave him a little squeeze before picking him up off the ground and nuzzling his face with her own. Aaron caught himself beginning to smile seeing the way Emily obviously adored his son. Of course all of the team loved Jack very much, but there was definitely something special about the way Emily cared for the little boy. But as Aaron's gaze shifted to the left of Emily his growing smile quickly vanished. Standing next to her was someone he didn't recognize, but immediately disliked. Aaron couldn't quite pinpoint what it was about this man's first impression, but he didn't like it. Maybe it was the fact that the amount of hair product used in his sandy blond hair was very apparent. Or maybe it was that he was dressed in a white T-shirt that looked about two sizes to small, outlining his chiseled body and well sculpted arms. Of course, it could have been that he appeared to be wearing a really expensive watch to a backyard barbecue. As he thought about it, Aaron realized that while he disliked all of these things, he was feeling particularly hostile towards the man because he was with Emily. Or rather, because he had his arm wrapped possessively around Emily's waist as the pair followed Jack to join the rest of the party.

As they got closer, Aaron quickly took a sip of his soda and struggled to pull himself together_. 'It's just Prentiss. It's just Prentiss'_ he tried to tell himself. But as his eyes fell on his beautiful subordinate, he was forced to admit to himself that she in fact was not just "Prentiss". He watched as her long, dark hair that appeared to be lightly curled bounced with every step she took. He marveled at the way her black halter-top hugged every curve and accentuated her tiny waist. But more so than anything he was drawn to the soft features of her face, her bright smile, her beautiful brown eyes and the way she let out her infectious laugh as Jack grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

A pat from Dave thankfully snapped him out of his thoughts. "Well Aaron, I guess that was the "they" Will was referring to," Dave said jokingly as he watched Aaron's jaw tighten. "It's too bad Beth couldn't make it," he added. Aaron had to quickly remind himself that he hadn't told anyone that he and Beth had not so amicably ended things.

"Emily! So glad you could make it!" Dave said turning his attention to her and her friend. "You're just in time the grills almost done," he added, motioning toward the burgers and hotdogs he was still working on.

Emily smiled, "Thanks Dave, it smells great and I'm starving! Sorry we're a little late" she said watching Jack run off to go find Henry.

"Don't worry about Em! So uh, are you going to introduce us?" Dave answered playfully and nodded towards Emily's mystery man.

Emily's eyes widened as if she had forgotten all about the man beside her. "Oh right! Sorry. This is-"

"Hi I'm Dr. Mark Robbins" Mark cut in.

Dave tried not to cringe as he watched the man extended his hand toward him. He knew Emily hated more than anything to being interrupted. He also tried his best to suppress rolling his eyes. _'Who did this guy think he was? It wasn't like they all went around introducing themselves as Federal Agents at Sunday barbecues'_ he thought to himself.

Sensing Dave's reaction Mark quickly smiled and added, "But please, call me Mark".

"Alright" Dave answered simply as he tentatively shook Mark's hand.

Emily tried to ignore the fact that Mark had interrupted her; after all, he was technically her date. Turning to face Aaron she said, "And Mark this is... um..." Emily swallowed hard, trying to find the appropriate words. _ 'The man I'm desperately in love with? Yeah right, like she was ever going to admit to that out loud' _she told herself. "This is my boss Aaron Hotchner," she finally decided. She then watched as Aaron gave Mark a firm handshake and a small, very small smile and felt Mark's arm return to her waist. Emily suddenly noticed that Beth wasn't by Hotch's side and wondered if maybe they weren't supposed to bring other people? But her worries vanished as she spotted Will and JJ coming over.

"Hey you guys! We were getting worried you got lost or something!" JJ said as she gave her best friend a tight hug while Will and Mark greeted each other themselves.

"I didn't know it would be so hot today. The heat is kind of making me thirsty" Emily said casually.

"Yeah you're right babe. One of my colleagues at the hospital said it's supposed to be one of the hottest days of the summer actually. Mark answered before reaching into the cooled that was sitting beside him.

Emily nodded, she had heard about Mark and his doctor friends all night at dinner and was sure that she didn't need to hear anymore right now. Sighing she smiled a bit, _'Sure maybe Mark talked about himself and his job a lot but at least he was thoughtful' _she thought to herself expecting the ice bottle of water Mark had retrieved to be for her.

Instead Mark opened up the cap and took a long swig of water before letting out a satisfied sigh. "You know, one of the first things I learned at med school is that the body always needs to be hydrated," he said ignoring Dave as he rolled his eyes. Nodding towards Hotch's own bottle of Coke he added, "and preferably with water".

Hotch clenched his fists and tried to stay collected, not wanting to do anything that would embarrass himself in front of Emily. Nodding he put his soda down and reached into the cooler taking out two bottles of water. Handing the first to Emily, he took the second for himself. Turning back to Mark he answered, "You're the doctor".

Mark seemed to ignore Hotch's comment as he ran a hand through his hair and leaned in to greet JJ.

"Jen it's always so lovely to see you" Mark said as he gave JJ a kiss on the cheek.

"Wait. You guys know each other already?" Dave piped up as the rest of the group joined them. Morgan and Reid each carrying one of the boys and Penelope and Kevin just behind them. Introductions went around before Emily attempted to answer Dave's question.

"Yeah well actually-" Emily began.

"Oh yeah! Will and I go way back. We used to hang out all the time back in college before I went off to med school at Stanford" Mark interrupted. "And it's actually my fault we were late. We overslept and well, I just couldn't let this one out of my arms" he added as he pulled a stunned Emily into him before she even had a chance to say anything about it.

Emily's cheeks were burning red. Mark had just told everyone that he had spent the night. And while that may have been the case, it surely wasn't intended and nothing had even happened between them.

An uncomfortable silence quickly settled over the group until Dave finally flipped the last burger over. "Ah! Food's ready" he said as Will handed out some paper plates. Everyone grabbed their food and made their way over to Dave's patio table, except for Aaron who felt as if someone had just punched him in the gut. He couldn't believe what was happening. He couldn't understand why Emily was with someone like Mark. He didn't even know Emily was seeing someone, let alone this cocky Abercrombie model looking Doctor who had just spent the night with her! As Aaron numbly accepted a burger from Dave and followed him to where Mark was holding onto Emily's hand under the table he felt a surge of jealousy, anger and hurt all at once. He wished that it was him that got to be the one holding Emily. But he didn't just want one night, he wanted a lifetime.

**A/N:** if you have a second please let me know what you think! Stay tuned for a bit of an angst filled chapter next!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** So, I consider this chapter a "transition" chapter before another major scene. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Hotch sat with his hands clenched all throughout lunch, trying to resist the urge to knock out Mark, whom he was starting to think of as his opponent. Mark's presence was only reminding him of all the time he wasted trying to come to terms with his feelings for Emily. He supposed that he had always been attracted to her, but he knew know more than ever that it was more than that… he wanted to be with her. He felt like kicking himself for not realizing it sooner; of course he had fallen for Emily, how could he not have? Not only was she gorgeous but she intelligent, compassionate, funny and so much more.

"Aaron? Are you okay? You've barley even made a dent in that burger I've been slaving over for hours. You really have no appreciation for fine cooking" Rossi joked.

"Yeah Daddy! It's really yummy!" Jack added with a beaming smile.

Hotch forced a smile and gave a slight nod before picking up the burger in front of him and taking a small bite. He was in the process of swallowing when he made the mistake of looking up. Across from him he watched as Mark tried to feed Emily a chocolate dipped strawberry while she casually pushed him away. At first Emily let out one of her infectious laughs but as Mark got more insistent she narrowed her eyes.

"Mark seriously, thank you but I don't want it" she said in a hushed voice, trying not attract too much attention from her friends most of whom were luckily distracted with their own conversations.

"Babe just try it. give your tongue a little treat" Mark answered with a wink as he grabbed Emily's wrist and tried to pull her closer to him.

Emily squirmed away from him, "Mark you're not feeding me that strawberry now let go of me" she said seriously.

"Oh come on" Mark pleaded tightening his grip

Hotch slammed his hand down on the table "Mark I think you need to let Emily go now" he said glaring at the other man.

Mark met Hotch's glare with his own before releasing Emily's hand. "Relax, it's not that big of deal Aaron" he said simply before eating the strawberry himself and running his free hand through his hair, yet again.

Emily stared at Hotch shocked. She didn't think anyone had been paying attention to them and what surprised her even more was the death-stare that Hotch had been giving Mark. Sure, Hotch was an incredibly intense person, but he rarely involved himself in other people's business, let alone hers. Ultimately she decided that maybe he was just put off that his own girlfriend couldn't make it and went back to her own meal.

When Mark was finished fixing his hair he turned back to Emily, "Besides if you're lucky your tongue will get to taste something much better and larger than a strawberry tonight" he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Emily's eyes widened, horrified while Aaron did a spit take-getting everyone's attention.

Emily threw down her half-eaten burger and pushed her chair back, "Mark, we need to talk. Can you follow me? Now!" she said quite sternly.

Mark looked up stunned at the now standing Emily, "Sure babe, I should've known that you couldn't wait" he said totally oblivious to Emily's tone.

Emily felt rage boiling in her cheeks; she was ready to yell and scream at him right there in front of everyone but just then a little voice stopped her. "Miss Emily! Miss Emily!" she head Jack cry. Everyone turned to see Jack come running towards Emily from Dave's kitchen carrying a cherry-red slushie that Garcia had made for him from one of Rossi's new toys. Before she could tell him to slow down, she watched in what seemed to be slow motion as the scene unfolded in front of her.

Just as Mark was getting up from his chair, Jack tripped over a towel that had fallen off of the back of JJ's chair sending his bright coloured drink flying through the air. Everyone's eyes anxiously followed the drink as it landed square on Mark's head, dripping onto his crisp white shirt.

Emily's hands flew to her mouth in shock and before anyone else could react, Mark let out a very angry scream.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME KID!? THIS T-SHIRTS COSTS MOST THAN YOU CAN COUNT! IT'S FURCKING ARMANI THIS STAIN WILL NEVER COME OUT" Mark shouted. Taking a moment to shake off the goop that was now all over his hands he continued, "AND MY HAIR! DO YOU NOT WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING?! HUH?!" he yelled at the now frightened little boy who turned to his right where JJ immediately picked him up, glaring at Mark.

"Mark calm down" JJ said calmly, "It was an accident. He's sorry, now just go clean up okay?"

"NO! It is most definitely NOT okay Jennifer! Sorry doesn't make up for all the damage control I'm going to have to do to this!" he said exasperatingly pointing to his hair of hair that was currently covering in red shaved ice. Then turning back to Jack, who was trying not to cry, Mark continued his tirade. "ARGHHHH YOU"RE SO STUPID KID! AND YOU!" he yelled, pointing at Garcia, "WHO GIVES A KID SO OBVIOUSLY INCAPABLE OF ANYTHING A CUP FULL OF FOOD COLORING AND-"

Emily, who had finally come out of her initial shock, cut him right off, "MARK! Enough! Come with me!" she demanded and she tried to grab his arm.

Mark pushed Emily away as she stumbled backwards before quickly regaining her balance. By this point Derek had gotten out of seat and was about 30 seconds away from knocking this guy unconscious.

"It's FINE Morgan!" Emily shouted before he could take another step closer. Hotch had been frozen in his seat, Jack had never even been picked on by a school bully yet alone another adult. As finally grasped onto what was happening, Hotch's eyes filled with rage as he got out of his chair and almost lunged at Mark, forcing Morgan to firmly redirect Hotch to the other side of the table to take his son from JJ.

Emily grabbing onto Mark's arm firmly and began to drag him down toward the gate where she could yell at him in a bit of privacy. Even though they would be within eyesight at least they would be out of earshot, which was all Emily cared about; she didn't want Jack to hear all the things she had to say to this jackass. When they were finally far enough, Emily let go of Mark and her eyes immediately narrowed. "Mark! What is wrong with you!? Jack is only four! It was an accident! Where do you get off on yelling at someone else, let alone a FOUR YEAR OLD CHILD like that? Are you out of your mind? And-"

"Babe" Mark tried to cut in.

"DON'T INTERRUPT ME!" Emily screamed! "And don't you dare call me babe. After everything you've done today I NEVER want to see you ever again!"

"Is this seriously all about a kid?" Mark questioned, "He's not even yours" he stated.

Mark's words pierced Emily more than they should have. Of course she knew that Jack wasn't hers but she loved him just the same. "It's not all about Jack. It's about you. You're an obnoxious and inappropriate pig! And yes, to top it all off you disrespected my friends and yelled at someone, no, yelled at a CHILD who is very, very important to me.

"Jeeze Emily, I didn't even know you were so into kids" Mark said, "Most women _your age_ already have kids or never want them. I just assumed you were the latter" he shrugged. Before he knew what hit him, Emily's palm came flying across his face… and hard.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE AND STAY AWAY FROM ME AND MY TEAM!" she said angrily as Mark rolled his eyes and took off. Emily listened as his tires screeched against the road before gathering composure and heading back to rejoin her friends, who had no doubt been watching her spat with Mark.

As Emily approached the patio, Jack came running at her and jumped into her arm, burying his face into her neck. "I'm so sorry about that guys. I… I'm just really sorry" Emily said as she held Jack tightly against her. Before anyone could say anything. Hotch was already on his feet and walking toward her. He shocked her when he pulled Jack out of her arms and set on the ground behind him.

"You should be sorry Prentiss! How could you bring that piece of trash over here?! How you let him near Jack?! he shouted, sounding both angry and hurt. "Clearly you should get to know your boyfriends a little bit more before you let them spend the night" he spat.

"Whoa" Emily began, "Hotch first of all Mark was not and now is most definitely NOT my boyfriend! We fell asleep watching a movie, nothing else!... not that it's any of your business!" she answered.

Forgetting all about the rest of the team who was now uncomfortably sitting at the table, trying to decide whether to get up and give them privacy or to stay and listen Aaron went on, "It is my business when the lunatic yells at my son! I mean come on Emily, do you ever wonder why your relationships never work out?" he said quickly without even thinking.

Aaron knew he was being unfair; what happened wasn't Emily's fault, he was just so overwhelmed with hurt, jealousy and anger. But he wasn't angry with Emily. Aaron knew Emily would never put Jack in any danger and the truth was he angry because Emily must really believe that _this _is the kind of man she deserves, which is the farthest thing from the truth. She deserved the whole world and more and all he wanted was to be able to try and give it to her. He was about to open his mouth and apologize for yelling at her when he noticed the tiny tears slipping down her rosy cheeks.

Expecting Emily to yell at him, he was surprised when she gently tucked a piece of her beautiful dark hair behind her ear and spoke in a calm, quite voice. "I know you're mad Hotch and I am sorry for the way Mark behaved" and then with a small smile she added, "I guess we aren't all as lucky as you and Beth are".

_'Beth!'_ Aaron thought to himself, _'She doesn't know Beth was also a lunatic'_. Aaron was just about to try and make light of the situation by admitting that he also didn't know who he was dating when Emily walked away from him and toward the group, "Derek could you take me home? Mark was my ride".

Derek immediately got up and nodded, "Yeah of course princess. Let's go" he said giving his supervisor a glaring look in the process. The two said their goodbyes and then quickly made their way to Derek's car.

Back at the patio, Dave was the first to break the silence, "Well Aaron, let me be the first to say it…. you're an idiot".

**A/N:** thoughts? Please be kind and review…. I promise that I am an H/P shipper and all will work out! Cheers!


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N**: hey guys hope you enjoy this chapter! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sticking with me on this one! As always, please update! Cheers!

Aaron looked back at Rossi with his signature "Hotch glare" and sent the remaining members of his team scrambling in all directions. Reid quickly took his godson from JJ and ushered Jack inside to watch a movie, followed closely by Will. Garcia and Kevin began to help JJ clear up the plates as they headed toward the kitchen as far away from Hotch as they could get. Rossi however, wasn't that easily intimidated and he held Hotch's stare, raising his eyebrows somewhat amused. "Oh come on Aaron, you know that doesn't work on me" he said.

Aaron let out a sigh, "Yeah I know Dave" he said as sunk into a nearby chair and put his head in his hands. "I really screwed up".

Dave sat across from him and nodded, "Well I'm not gonna argue with you there Aaron" he agreed.

"Emily didn't deserve any of what I said" Hotch said as he shook he head.

Dave reached across the table and put a hand on Hotch's shoulder. "Look Aaron, we already know that. But I think there's a bigger issue here. You need to ask yourself why you said those things. It sure wasn't because she deserved it" he said, even though he already knew the real reason behind Aaron's outbreak.

Aaron looked up and stared directly into the older man's eyes, "I think you already know" he replied flatly.

"I know I just want to hear you say it. I think you need to hear yourself say it too" Dave shrugged smugly.

"Fine... I think... No I know... I have very strong... No... I, um..." Aaron stuttered as he struggled to express himself.

"SPIT IT OUT AARON!" Dave urged.

Aaron paused for a minute to gather his thoughts before finally saying, "I LOVE HER! ...and ...I _love_ her ...oh my God Dave! I _love_ her! What have I done? I'm in love with Emily..."

Dave chuckled and tried to ignore Aaron's glares, "I'm sorry Aaron in not laughing at you. It's just amazing that it's taken you this long to realize it" he said honestly.

"I think a part of me has always been in love with Emily. So seeing her with him here today just made me... Well jealous, and angry. It's like it finally hit me. I was angry at the way he treated her, angry at the way he treated my son but most of all I was angry because Emily thinks that's the kind of guy she deserves" he paused. "I yelled at her and I shouldn't have. I just hope I can fix things before it's too late. I can picture it Dave, I can picture a life with Emily and the more I think about it, the more I realize that it's all I ever wanted- she's all I've ever wanted" he went on.

Dave silently nodded along, Aaron Hotchner rarely ever opened up to anyone like this, so on these rare occasions it was best to stay silent and let him talk it out. Once he was sure that Hotch was done, he gently asked, "Aren't you still dating Beth though Aaron?"

Letting out a deep sigh, Hotch looked Dave right in the eyes, "I guess I might as well tell you" he said before he carefully relaid out the events that happened the day before and how he realized that he had also been dating someone completely wrong for him.

Dave did his best to not jump up and down with joy. This was everything that he wanted to hear. "It's about time Aaron. Now just one question. What the hell are you doing sitting here? Go to Emily!... And you better make one hell of an apology" he said as he got up, urging Hotch to do the same.

Hotch followed suit, following Dave inside the house to find Jack, "I just hope I didn't lose my chance" he stated honestly.

As the two men entered the house they were ambushed by Will. "I am so sorry gentlemen, Mark and I weren't even that close. I promise I had no idea he had turned into such a-" he was thankfully cut off by Jack who came running to his dad.

"Hi daddy! Guess what? Uncle Spence is showing me and Henry all kind of cool magic tricks!" he said enthusiastically.

Hotch smiled, glad that Jack seemed to have forgotten all about Mark. "That's great Jack but get your things, we have to go now" he said as he started looking around for Jack's backpack.

"But daddy the movie isn't over yet" Jack stated, pointing toward the living room where JJ was sitting with Henry and Reid.

Before Hotch could say anything, Will interjected. "Aaron why don't you let us have Jack over for a sleepover. It's the least we can do. That way you can go do your thing" he proposed.

Hotch hesitated for a moment, but then thought that it in fact might be easier to express his feelings to Emily on his own. Bending down to be eye level with his son he asked Jack, "Would you like that buddy?".

Jack nodded enthusiastically in return before running off. When Aaron stood back up he was surprised to see that JJ had joined them in the kitchen. She hadn't said a single word to him all day and his earlier outbreak hadn't exactly encouraged pleasant conversation between the two. They held each other's gaze intensely before JJ finally spoke, "Fix this Aaron" she said sternly without any room for argument.

Rossi smirked and chimed in, "You either need to tell how you feel, or let her go. What you're doing is not fair to either of you" he said honestly.

Hearing this, JJ's eyes almost bugged out. "What do you mean 'tell her how you feel'? Wait do you have feelings for Emily?" JJ asked excitedly. "Hotch you need to-" before she could finish her sentence her cell phone rang in her hand. "Excuse me" she excused herself back outside for a moment, leaving the three men standing in the kitchen each wearing their own puzzled expression.

Aaron turned to Rossi with a glare that sent Will retreating back to Reid and they boys in the living room. "Dave! It wasn't your place to say anything. I know you were just trying to help but I really didn't want anyone else to know about my feelings right now. I haven't even figured out what I'm going to do, what I'm going to say and now JJ-" interrupted by JJ's return he tried to regain what little composure he had left. He was opening his mouth to tell both JJ and Rossi that he would make things right with Emily when JJ's expression stopped his train of thought.

"What's wrong Jen?" Rossi asked first.

Pursing her lips shut before speaking, JJ simply stared at Hotch "You need to get over to Emily's… now".

**A/N:** review! Please?


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** hey guys, okay let me formally apologize for the delay in updating. I really am sorry for leaving you guys at a cliffhanger. It's just a really chaotic time for me right now… I promise that I'm working on my stories whenever I get a chance! Please stick with me! I do love hearing from you guys. Cheers!

As Aaron sat behind the wheel, driving just a little bit over the speed limit he wondered why JJ was so adamant that he head over to Emily's right away. There hadn't necessarily been any sense of urgency in her voice, but he could tell by her tone that the issue was not up for debate. After kissing Jack goodbye and thanking Will and JJ for letting him sleep over he had gotten in his silver SUV and started towards Emily's.

It had just started spitting rain when he finally pulled up to curb across the street of Emily's apartment building and as he slammed the driver's door shut his brow immediately burrowed in confusion. He was somewhat surprised to see that Emily was also standing outside of her building rather than inside avoiding the rain that was starting to come down a little bit heavier. But what made him start to all but run toward her was the packed luggage that was sitting around her as she hailed a taxicab.

"Emily! Emily! …Prentiss!" he shouted at her as she began to bring her baggage toward the waiting taxi. Hotch didn't care that he had just run through a busy street, narrowly escaping being hit by a car, all he cared about was getting to Emily.

A wave of shock came over her as Emily looked up to see Aaron Hotchner running toward her, "Hotch! …What… what are you doing here?" she managed to choke out. She hoped it wasn't too obvious that she had been crying only moments before he showed up.

Ignoring her question, he countered with one of his own, "Prentiss! Where are you going!?" he asked angrily, immediately regretting using her last name. "Emily" he said softer, "What's going on?" he finished.

Handing her bags to the driver who was piling them into the trunk, she bit down on her lower lip and looked down at the ground, not wanting to have to see him right now. Finally she looked up slightly, still avoiding his eye contact and quietly answered, "I'm just getting out of town for a while. Don't worry, uh.. Sir, I already got clearance from Strauss" she said as she turned back to the driver to hand him the last of her bags.

"You think I'm worried about work?" he questioned. He shook his head, trying to take in what was going on and get a grip of his thoughts.

"Look Hotch, I have to go" Emily tried to say as she moved toward the cab door.

"Like hell you are!" he shouted, competing with the sound of the rain that seemed to be coming down harder and harder with each passing second. He quickly flashed a badge at the taxi driver before taking it upon himself to unload all of Emily's bags.

"HEY! Hotch! What do you think you're doing?" she yelled back at him.

Ignoring her, Hotch turned to the driver and handed him a crisp bill, "Thank you kind sir, but she won't be needing this" he said simply. When the driver look tentatively between Hotch and Emily, Hotch decided he needed to be a little more forceful, "GO!".

As the cab drove off, Emily found herself standing in shock at what had just happened, "Now wait a minute, what gives you the right-" she started but stopped when she felt her eyes betray her as warm tears began to fall down her already wet face.

"Is this because of what I said earlier, because Emily, I swear to you, I didn't mean any of it. I'll make it up to you I promise. I was just so angry, but not at you- I was angry with Mark. But more than anything, I was just-" before he could say the word jealous and finally admit his feelings for her, Emily cut him off.

"No Aaron, that's not the reason. I mean, yeah what you said hurt a little bit but I know you didn't mean it. Mark is a jackass and I'm just as angry with him as you are because of what he did to Jack" she said, missing the fact that he wasn't just angry because of the way he treated Jack, but also because of the way he had treated _her_.

Softening his face, Hotch dared to take a step closer to her, "Then why were leaving Emily?" he asked.

"I told you, I just needed to get away" she said as she tried to take her bags from Hotch.

"Why" he pushed, withholding her luggage from her without breaking their eye contact.

Emily stared back into his deep brown eyes and momentarily considered just turning around and walking back into her apartment building, abandoning her baggage in the process. But the longer she stared at him standing there in the pouring rain, the harder it was for her to leave. Taking a deep breath she shook her head almost in disbelief about what she was going to say. "BECAUSE IT'S TOO DAMN HARD HOTCH! It's too hard for me to see you. It's hard to see you at the office, it's hard to see you with _her_, it's hard to watch you put yourself in danger… it's all just too hard… and I can't do it anymore." She paused as the tears streamed down her face and rain pounded down around her. "But the hardest part of all is to see you… and know that even though I am so irrevocably _in love_ you… I can't have you" she finished in a barely audible whisper.

Hotch stood there, trying to convince himself of what he just heard. Emily Prentiss had just told him that she was in love with him. His heart was beating a mile a minute as he stared back at the most beautiful women in the whole world who was right now, drenched in rain. Just as she was about to turn away, he realized that he hadn't so much as breathed since she had spoken, let alone tell her that he too, was head over heals in love with her. He reached out and grabbed her arm before she could flee; his head was spinning and he struggled to find words that would even be half-enough to convey what he was feeling.

So instead, he dropped the duffle bag he was holding in his other hand and pulled her flush against him in one swift motion. He watched the surprised expression on her face, the rise and fall of her chest and then finally looked deep into her chestnut eyes. Holding her tightly, his eyes dropped to her full, pink lips as he bent down to meet them with his own. The kiss was soft and gently at first as he marveled in how wonderful it was to finally kiss Emily Prentiss. Her hands snaked around his neck, tugging at the hair around his nape.

Emily moaned against him and he slid his tongue along the bottom of her lip, begging for entrance. She eagerly obliged and tilted her head back to deepen the kiss. They found themselves lost in the pouring rain, as if they were the only two people in the whole world. It was only when a passing stranger shouted, "Get a room!" that their lips reluctantly parted.

Emily started to pull away but Hotch tightened his grip around her. He had just gotten her, there was no way he was letting her go right away. Forgetting about the pour of the rain, she rested her head against his chest before daring to look up at him. Concern spread across her face as she pulled out of his grip and took a small step back.

"Hotch?" she asked quietly.

**A/N:** so I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, this is by far my favourite chapter that I've ever written! Seriously, reviews make me write faster and I love to hear what you all think because I LOVE HP and I love writing and I love you guys! So please, please, pretty please with a cherry on top drop me a line and review! Cheers! rnovak


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** okay so I have a few announcements/comments:

1) *****This chapter will contain some elements of kinda/sorta smut, rating for this episode changed to M*****

2) Please note that I had to change my penname and I am now EmilyHeinle (and yes my name is actually Emily and it just so happens to be a coincidence that my favourite character's name is too!) J

3) THANK YOU for the overwhelming response to the last chapter, I HOPE my updates are worth the wait!

4) I'm sorry it took me so long to update, I had trouble with this chapter

5) As always PLEASE make my day and drop me a review! I would really appreciate it, especially for this chapter, I really hope you are all still interested

And now on with the story! …Cheers!

Emily chewed nervously on her bottom lip, praying that Hotch wasn't regretting what just happened between them. Her heart rate had picked up and she was still breathing heavily, partly because the rain was making it hard to even inhale but mostly because she was anxiously waiting for Hotch to say something, anything. Emily's gaze fell to the ground and again, she tried to no avail to turn around and leave.

Hotch managed to grab hold of her hand and pulled her back into him and said the two words that made her freeze, "I'm sorry" he said as he stared into her deep brown eyes.

Emily eyes welled up with tears and Hotch immediately brought his hand up to wipe them away. "No! Not because of what just happened. God, I'll never be sorry that" he said softly as she turned her soft face into his palm. "I'm sorry because I've been such an idiot. I'm sorry that it took me so long to realized that… that, I'm undeniably i_n love with you_ Emily Prentiss. And I think- no, I _know_ that I have been so quite some time now" he paused for a moment as he watched her eyes widen in shock and was pleased that her shoulders eased with relief. He bent forward slightly so that his lips were just grazing her ear, "and just so you know… you've always had me" he said in a low voice before facing her again.

Emily held Hotch's stare for a moment as the last of her warm tears slipped down her cheek. She grabbed onto his hand tightly before turning to lead him back into her building and finally getting out of the cold, pouring rain.

Throwing Emily's now very wet duffel bag on his shoulder he followed her inside without question, taking her small, delicate hand in his own. The pair stood intimately in the elevator as Hotch let go Emily's hand only to wrap it securely around her tiny waist.

The doors to the elevator were just about to close when a few men joined the two, pushing the buttons for their respective floors. They all took notice of the soaking wet couple standing together in the back corner of the elevator and their eyes immediately fell on Emily, their eyes darkening with desire.

Emily avoided the three pairs of eyes that were hungrily staring at her and suddenly wished that she was dry and covered up.

It didn't take long for Hotch to realize that all three men were eyeing _his_ Emily. He emitted a low possessive growl before shifting his body to shield her. Turning into Emily, he put himself protectively between her and anyone else that dared to even look at her. He hated how those men were staring at her, like she was some sort of sex object.

But as Emily stood there, he realized _why_ all three men were drooling like schoolboys.

Drenched in rain, Emily's linen white button-down shirt was practically see-through, undoubtedly putting her low-cut, black-laced bra on display for the world to see. As her chest rose and fell with each steady breath she took, Hotch could feel himself becoming aroused by her generous chest. Her cut-off denim shorts exposed her long, lean legs and Aaron swallowed hard. If it were not for their three very unwanted guests, he would have stopped the elevator long ago and taken her right there. He looked down at Emily, who now had laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him, telling everyone that she was already taken. _'No,_' he thought to himself, _'even if they were alone, she deserves so much better than one quick elevator fuck'_. He mentally chastised himself; he shook his head '_this is not the place' _he told himself. Although he was finding it very difficult to calm himself down as Emily's wet chest rubbed against his own.

After what felt like the longest elevator in both of their lives they finally reached Emily's floor and Aaron protectively led Emily through the metal doors and toward her own apartment. They moved quickly, both anxious to finally be alone and though neither one of them had said a word to each other since they were outside, the silence was comfortable and they didn't feel the need to break it just yet.

As soon as Emily let go of his hand to open her door, Hotch immediately missed the warmth of her contact. He brought in the luggage that he was carrying and placed it to side of her hallway mentally noting to himself to help her unpack it all later. He gently closed and locked her door behind him as if to say that he wouldn't run, he wouldn't ever leave her now that he knew that she loved him just as much as he loved her. Emily had walked a little further into her apartment to kick her flip-flops into the closet before turning back around to face him.

While in the elevator, Aaron had been so focused on shielding Emily that he didn't allow himself to pay too much attention to the fact that she was practically dripping sex, but now that they were alone, all bets were off. He watched with darkening eyes as Emily's hips swayed as she walked toward him stopping only when she saw his face harden.

Aaron decided to finally break the silence, "That elevator ride was torture," he said as he took a small step closer toward her.

Emily smirked and ran a hand through her wet hair. "Possessive is kind of sexy on you Aaron Hotchner. I think you were just about seconds away from decking the blonde one who wouldn't stop staring at my ass," she said honestly.

Aaron shook his head, "It wasn't just the way they were eyeing you. It was the fact that they were there at all. I just want you all to myself" he said in a low growl.

Emily's eyes turned a dark shade of chocolate. "Well you know… they're not here anymore and we're all alone" she said seductively as she began to slowly unbutton her shirt from the top down.

As Emily's shirt fell to floor, exposing her tight, smooth ivory skin, Aaron felt his shorts tighten. He had waited so long to be with Emily Prentiss that this didn't even feel real. But his hesitation only lasted for a brief moment before he jumped into action. Stunning Emily, he pulled her flush against his body and kissed her with everything in him wrapping his arms around her tightly in the process. Though their first kiss had started off chaste and gentle, this one was filled with nothing but passion, desire and dare he say, love. Their tongues battled for dominance, tangling in each other as he slipped his tongue deeper into her mouth, smiling when he heard Emily let out a soft moan against his mouth in response. His hands sprawled across her soft back and he toyed with the clasp of her black bra until he finally got it undone.

Tossing the infuriating piece of material aside, Aaron let out a deep growl as Emily's now bare chest pushed against him. Moving his hands to cup her bottom, he quickly lifted her up off the ground. Emily immediately wrapped her legs around his waist, and watched as his eyes fluttered shut, sure that he could feel just how aroused and ready she was for him.

She reveled in their closeness before reluctantly breaking their kiss. In Aaron's arms, Emily pulled back and locked eyes with him; tossing her hair to the side, she ran a soft hand down Aaron's cheek, as if to reassure herself that this wasn't a dream. As she stared into the eyes of the man she was inevitably in love with, she knew this was more than lust; suddenly overcome with emotion, a single warm tear escaped her eye.

Aaron was about to reaffirm his love for her, but Emily beat him to it, sending chills down his spine. "Make love to me Aaron" she whispered in a voice so hushed, he barely heard her. Aaron was sure he had never heard anything or anyone sound so sexy. He answered her with a passionate kiss that made her eyes roll back as he nipped and suckled on her lower lip. Aaron carried her up the stairs, blindly finding her bedroom and laying her softly down on the bed. Somehow Emily had managed to shed her shorts somewhere on her staircase and now there was only a pair of flimsy black panties remaining on her. Aaron stood back and marveled at the insanely beautiful and naked woman that was sprawled out on the bed just for him. He tossed his own clothes aside and knelt over Emily, placing soft kisses along the miles of gloriously bare skin that the was met with. Finally meeting her lips, he engulfed her mouth with his own, simultaneously bringing his hands up to knead and massage her erect breasts.

Not wanting to be idle, Emily snaked her hands between their hot bodies and peeled away their undergarments. Reaching one hand up and around Aaron's neck, she wrapped the other one around his long, hard shaft.

"Emily!" Aaron growled before finding the spot behind her ear that made her cry out his given name.

"Oh! Oh! Aaron, please I need you now" she pleaded as her legs withered beneath him, desperate to feel some friction.

Unable to ignore his throbbing cock any longer, Aaron lined himself up with Emily's soaking entrance and gently pushed in.

"OH!" Emily screamed. It had been so long since she had been with anyone, and he was so well endowed that it took her a minute to adjust to his intrusion. After a few seconds she legs around him, driving him deeper into her and together, they quickly found their pace. Aaron growled low in the throat as he felt her walls clenching against him.

"God, you're so wet and so tight" he mumbled against her neck, gently biting down along her skin. He wanted everyone to know that she was well loved… well loved by him.

As Aaron thrust in and out of her, hitting places she had forgotten even existed, she cried out his name again and again. "Oh my God! Aaron! Please! Harder!" her voice filled with longing. Arching up into him, Emily could feel Aaron's warm hands all over her body.

Somehow finding the strength, she flipped them over so that she straddled him, sinking down onto him even deeper. She could feel him stretching her and she let out a groan, throwing her head back.

Aaron leaned up to take one breast with his mouth while still massaging the other one before moving up to suck and nip at the spots on her long, bare neck that drove Emily to pieces. "Oh Aaron!" she cried.

Simply hearing her scream his name, his given name was enough to bring him over the edge, but Aaron held out, determined to take her with him.

Emily found Aaron's lips and gently bit down before kissing him with everything she had. He could feel her breaths as she panted against his ear. "And Aaron…. I already know why my relationships never work out" she began in a breathy voice, "It's because… you've always had my heart".

And with that, Aaron flipped them once again as he panted hard, "You're mine Emily. All of you" he said as he thrust into her hard a couple more times before his body went tight and he came violently, pulling her along with him.

Emily's body shook as Hotch held her and she cried out "Yours! I'm yours Aaron!"

When her climax finally stopped, Aaron threaded his fingers through her dark hair, not wanting to part just yet. He looked into her deep brown eyes and was about to tell her long beautiful she was when they both heard his phone ring from his pant pocket.

**A/N:** SOOOOOOOO? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me you love it?! I really really want to hear from you! It was my first time ever writing a scene like this and I'd like to know what you thought! More to come! Stay tuned and please review! –EH.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Hey everyone! So I'm thinking that I might just wrap it up now just in case you guys are losing interest. On another note, I will be starting a new story soon so keep an eye out for that! Please review, I love you all! Cheers! -EH

They both stared intensely at the phone, cursing it silently for interrupting such an intimate moment. Immediately Emily reached to pull the sheets around her, feeling a wave of guilt rush over her. "Shit Hotch! That's probably Beth! Oh my god oh my god!" Emily put her face in her hands before continuing, "I can't believe we-"

Aaron shook his head and pulled Emily into him. "Shh… stop it Em. It's not Beth and even if it is… I have to tell you something" he began. He sighed when he felt Emily's body relax into his own; their bodies molded together so perfectly, and it all just felt so right. Stroking Emily's hair softly he continued, "Beth and I ended things and-"

Upon hearing this Emily snapped to attention, "What? When? I just saw you guys the other day" she stated, puzzled and also undoubtedly relieved.

Hotch couldn't help but smirk at the obvious joy that was sparkling in Emily's eyes. "If you let me finish," he said jokingly as she placed her head back down on his chest. "It was actually right after you left that day" Aaron continued as he relayed the story to her. "… and I just finally realized that… well that…" he struggled to find words.

"That she was certifiably crazy" Emily finished for him with a smirk.

Hotch chuckled, "Well yes. But I was going to say, that she wasn't the person I wanted to be with" he said honestly as he traced the bare skin of Emily's back lightly.

"Oh yeah? And who _do_ you want to be with" Emily asked playfully.

Aaron kissed the top of head and answered, "Hmm… well there's this unbelievably beautiful woman that I work with. She's smart, funny, compassionate and _she_ is the only person I want to be with. And I'm just so sorry it took me so long to realize it" he said honestly.

Emily smiled and titled her head to give him a gentle kiss on the lips. "You're the only one I've ever wanted to be with. I used to dream about what it would be like to be held in your arms," she whispered back.

Aaron could hear the vulnerability in her voice and pulled her even tighter against him, "I promise you won't ever have to wonder anymore. Now that I have you I'm never letting you go," Hotch said seriously.

Emily leaned back and tilted her head to the side, "Oh you think you have me do you now Agent Hotchner?" she asked jokingly as she lightly fingered his muscular chest.

"Hmm…" he said pretending to think about it, "Well I think the bite marks speak for itself" he joked. As he surveyed her bare body he noticed he also left finger sized bruises on her hips and thighs. "I'm sorry about that Emily, I should have been more gentle," he said sincerely.

Emily followed his gaze and then lifted his chin to look her in the eyes, "You have nothing to be sorry about. What we just did was… perfect. I'm proud of them, it shows that I was well loved," she said with a smile.

Aaron bent forward and planted a kiss on her lips, "Yes you were. And if I have anything to say about it, you will always be".

"I like the sound of that, speaking of sound… maybe you should check your phone to see who called," she suggested.

Aaron hesitated; he didn't want to let go of the beautiful woman in his arms, even just for a moment. Then he decided he better make sure it wasn't anything important, "Okay. It might be JJ, she has Jack for a sleepover with Henry" he quickly explained.

Reaching into his pants he grabbed his cell phone and scrolled through his missed calls, "Hmm, not JJ. But Garcia called, maybe I should give her a quick call back".

"You do that. I'm gonna go take a nice hot shower" Emily said as she pulled the covers off of her and started to get out of bed, slightly wincing at the pain she felt from moving too quickly.

As Emily stretched, Hotch practically dropped his phone from his ear. Even though they had just finished making love, he could already feel himself becoming aroused again at the sight of Emily naked and standing only a few feet away from him. Tossing the phone onto the bed he let out a low groan. "Garcia can wait!" he growled as he ran toward her, lifting Emily off of her feet, all but throwing her over his shoulder and heading toward the shower.

Emily let out a high-pitched laugh and threw her head back when the hot water finally hit their skin in her shower. Aaron took advantage of the opportunity to place kisses along the exposed skin, working his way up to her soft lips.

He felt Emily's pleading moan and they wasting no time becoming one. They made love just as passionately as the first time, coming together in ecstasy. When they finished, Emily's legs were so wobbly that Aaron turned her around gently so that she could lean against him. With her head lying back on his shoulder he tenderly shampooed and washed her hair while whispering how much he loved her.

When they finished washing each other, Aaron reached for a couple of soft towels that were hanging beside the shower and made sure Emily was wrapped first before taking one for himself. He was drying off his hair when he turned around and noticed that Emily had already left. Walking back into the bedroom he found that Emily was replaced the towel with a black silk robe and was sitting on the edge of the bed toying with the ends of her hair.

Emily looked up when she felt Aaron sit down beside her. "Do you think maybe we should talk? You know, about where we go from here?" she asked softly.

Aaron's brow furrowed in confusion, "What do you mean? Emily, I told you… I'm not going anywhere. This is for real" he said taking her hand.

Emily got up, "You know it's not that simple. What about the Bureau? Strauss? The team?"

"None of that matters to me. Jack loves you and I love you. That's all there is to it. Do you love me?"

"Of course I love you"

"Then we'll deal with the rest when it comes. Emily you make me so happy. I've spent so long dreaming about getting to spend my life with you and now that it's happening, I don't care about anything else. We'll make it work okay?" he said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Okay" Emily agreed, resting her head against his strong shoulder. "What do you say we go get Jack and then get something to eat? I think I worked up quite an appetite".

Aaron let out a light laugh, "I think that's a great idea. Jack will be so happy to see you" he said honestly.

"Come on then!" Emily said as she pulled away hearing her own stomach grumble.

"Just a minute" Aaron replied, brushing a strand of hair out of Emily's face before meeting her lips with his own.

The two of them stood in each other's arms for a moment as they turned to look out the window. Autumn would be here soon, and Aaron smiled as he thought about all the wonderful changes were happening.

"Well this was a perfect end to the summer", Emily said softly.

Aaron smiled. "And a beautiful beginning to the rest of our lives"

**A/N: **So, I think I'm going to make this the last chapter! If you want more let me know… if not. Thank you so much for reading and please **stay tuned for my upcoming stories**! (H/P of course) Cheers and don't forget to review! –_EmilyHeinle _


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